Uruguay's upcoming presidential runoff is unlikely to yield significant foreign or domestic policy changes, but a victory by the conservative candidate could increase Montevideo's push to deepen commercial ties with China and reform the South American trade bloc Mercosur. Yamandu Orsi of the leftist opposition party Frente Amplio secured 43.9% of the vote in the first round of Uruguay's presidential election on Oct. 27, outperforming Alvaro Delgado of the ruling National Party, who came in a distant second with 26.8%. Another 20.2.% of the vote was split between three other presidential candidates, all of whom belong to parties that are part of the ruling center-right coalition and have pledged to support Delgado when he competes against Orsi in the Nov. 24 run-off race. The opposition Frente Amplio also outperformed the governing National Party in concurrent legislative elections on Oct. 27, having secured a majority in the upper house of Uruguay's...
